Estrangement

Information

Experience

Royal

College

2

0

of 2

Design Art 2

estrangement A Dor

project

by Cohen

2

3

Estrangement is an experiment-driven research

project

exploring themes of identity, movement,

and

(dis)embodiment.

Through VR experience, performance, and workshops, both

physical

and

digital,

the

project

studies corporal modification and how it

can for

affect the

our

sake

proprioception,

of

deepening

and

expanding mental and physical bodily related

capabilities to

movement.

4

Table

of

Content

5

1.

2.

Themes, 3.

Media

Introduction

and

Audiences

5.

6.

8.

9.

15

Research Physical

Experimentation

Digital

Exploration

7.

Transformance Development

32 40 46

Workshop

Future

6 8

Framework 4.

3

56 64

6

Themes,

Media

and

Audiences

Movement

Iden

Professional Performers

'Self-po

Physical

The Anti-body Suit

Collaborative Performance

7

ntity

(Dis)embodiment

Dance Enthusiastic

ortrait'

Digital

Interactive Installation

Movement Research Tool

8

F

r

a

m

e

w

o

r

k

9

Oliver Sacks writes, in ‘The Disembodied Lady’, “What is more important for us, (...) than the control, the owning and operation, of our own physical selves? And yet it is so automatic, so familiar, we never give it a thought”.

Estrangement challenge

the

provides notion

of

a

framework

embodiment

in

to which

the subject is not only represented but also in control

of

a

different

body,

facilitating

a

new

proprioceptive dialogue with an altered reflection.

Sacks, Oliver W., The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical

Tales, 1. Harper perennial ed (New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1990)

10

Dance

as

the

Field

of

Research

11

Researchers

study

proprioception

primarily

to better understand the functioning body.

Increasing the

artistic

expectation

able

to

body

meet

that them,

awareness

is

and

physical

dancers' emphasize to

a

demands,

bodies how

dance

will

and be

important career.

This awerness is an expandable physical and mental quality which this project focus on enhancing as

through

professional

targeting dancers

its

and

audience

performers.

Barlow, Rachel, ‘Proprioception in Dance: A Comparative Review of Understandings and Approaches to Research’, Research in Dance Education, 19.1 (2018), 39–56

12

Embodiment,

Disembodiment

&

Re-embodiment

13

V i r t u a l r e a l i t y

provides

unfamiliar

an one

does

any

experience,

not

have

any

representation

in

which

representation

as

for

their

or

has

embodiment.

I first realised the power of this tool through watching my uncle, who had a cerebral event and as a consequence developed a motoric disability in his arm. The flexibility and transformative quality of VR allow him to regain control of his

arm

motion

by

to

translate virtuality. virtuality,

minimising

the

finger-powered to

a This

full gap

between

range

buttons

range

of

between

disability

of

needed

which

then

movements reality and

in and

freedom,

made me develop the foundations of this project.

research

16

B

a

c

k

g

r

o

u

n

d

17

The

pandemic

performative solutions

Although

two

for

are

affected media

and

conducting

needed

heavily

for

forced live

this

all new

shows.

tango,

the solutions seemed to consider only the audience.

Pre-recorded

sessions,

live

broadcasted

performances, AR, VR, XR - no matter the channel, optical

the or

dancer digital

is

isolated

capturing

with

an

instrument.

This project is a critical response in which the dancer/user is to be immersed in an experience one can perform within, explore the relationship with their (new) body and expand its range of movement.

18

E

m

b

o

d

i

m

e

n

t

19

Our embodiment is also our corporal when

identity,

altered,

we

thus question

what Freud coined as our 'body-ego'.

In psycho-analytic theory, it is the part of the ego that develops out of self-perceptions of the body. It is the first manifestation of the core of the ego around which all perceptions of the self are grouped, including individual memories, sensations, ideas,

wishes,

strivings,

and

fantasies.

20

“Derived

from

the

Latin fingere, ‘figure’ stands

for

shape

of

sense, form a

the

the

for

of

body

and,

sculpture

the

unity.

external

In

dancer's

in

as body

theatrical

a

broader

well.

The

presents

spatial ‘figure’

performance

as

conventions,

figure has traditionally been the bearer of identity.

But

in

relation

to

the

choreographic

text,

figure

also means the unity of a movement figure and the derivative in

the

possibilities syntax

of

of

its

movement

positioning

sequences.”

Brandstetter, Gabriele (1998) ‘Defigurative choreography: From Marcel Duchamp to William Forsythe’, The Drama Review 42(4): 37–55.

21

22

D

i

s

s

e

r

t

a

t

i

o

n

23

Writing dissertation

my about

dance in Virtual Reality allowed me to discover theories, practitioners and gaps in today's implementation of VR technology within the discipline of dance.

Through interviews with professional dancers, choreographers and philosophers I was led to initiate this project to propose a new experience tying together dance, VR and embodiment manipulation.

24

T

h

e

o

r

y

25

In 1906, the English neurophysiologist Sir

Charles

Sherrington

“proprioception” referring

(one's

the

to

own

coined

perception)

sensory

information

obtained from receptors embedded in joints, muscles and tendons that enable a person to know where parts of the body are located at any time.

In

case

rely

of

visual

on

Thanks

this

to

VR

deprivation, information

technology

we

can

humans greatly.

embody

our

movement and position in space by the agency of

a

representation,

which

does

not

necessarily have to mimic our physical appearance

but

may

affect

its

user’s proprioceptive accuracy.

Evarts, Edward V., ‘Sherrington’s Concept of Proprioception’, Trends in Neurosciences, 4 (1981), 44–46

26

The mirror stage is a key term in Jacques Lacan's psychoanalysis stage in

that which

reflected

This

that

refers

appears

at

the

infant

from

the

the

mirror

relationship

This is

a

age

developmental of

experiences

experience

which

to

as

if

six his

it

a

with

the

-

self

seems

the

reflexivity apparent since "I" as

to is

to

the

other;

a

state

in

fundamentally

fantasy stage,

oneself

recognizing this

in

fragmented.

mirror

recognize like

"real". libidinal

be

inherent in

portrait

was

creates image

months

act

as

oneself is

thus

self-alienating.

Lacan, Jacques, and Jacques Lacan, Écrits: A Selection (New York: Norton, 1977)

27

‘If you do know that here is one hand, we’ll grant you all the rest. (...) Can I doubt it?

Grounds for doubt are lacking!’

Sacks mention Ludwig Wittgenstein’s last book ‘On Certainty' in regards to the certainty and possibly doubt we

have

whether or

in

our

bodies.

He

there

might

be

conditions

which

take

wonders

situations away

the

certainty of the body, which do give one grounds to doubt’s one body, perhaps indeed to lose one’s entire body in total doubt. This doubt

may

be

considered

a

disembodied

state.

Wittgenstein, Ludwig, G. E. M. Anscombe, and Denis Paul, On Certainty: = Über Gewißheit (Oxford: Blackwell, 2008)

28

Barbara

Montero,

professional

a

philosophy

ballet

proprioception

professor

background,

is

an

with

claims

aesthetic

sense,

a

a

that sense

by which we experience beauty and grace, and one

that

based

can on

She

make

aesthetic

proprioceptive

judgments

experience.

posits that in a certain sense

an observer can proprioceive the beauty of another's movement.

Montero

argues

that

recent

discoveries about the function of mirror

neurons

both

when

when

one

as

well

one sees

as

that

are

performs that

other

activated

a

task

task

and

performed,

empirical

studies,

illustrating that when seeing others move we kinesthetically represent their motion, support the case and potentially pave the way toward

a

third-person

proprioceptive

aesthetics.

Montero, Barbara. 2006. ‘Proprioception as an Aesthetic Sense’, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 64.2: 231–42

29

30

Dance

A l e x a n d e r Whitley Company Interactive VR dance performance

Practitioners

Studio Wayne McGregor AI choreographic

Based tool

31

Einav

Katan-Schmid

Dance research with immersive video games

Blanca Dance

Li Company

Participatory VR dance performance

32

Physical

Experimentation

33

The made

project

started

through

a

with

physical

wearable

experimentations

inflatable

garment.

This garment allows the user to inhabit a new form, stimulating the emergence of a new movement lexicon.

The movement created was unpredictable and thoughtprovoking,

having

acquaintance

with

a the

brief

and

changing

surprising silhouette.

34

The

Anti-body

Suit

35

40

Digital

Exploration

41

Becoming

digital

was

the

initial

concept

that

moved me towards developing this year-long project.

In

the

life

process

of

phenomena

to

converting

ordinary

virtuality,

basic

everyday settings

are being challenged and open for reconstruction - such as my topic of research, (dis)embodiment.

In

this

developed

interactive with

the

installation,

help

of

the

RCA

which

was

technicians,

The WiP Show guests were offered with the ability to have control over a digital representation, an avatar,

of

myself

that

mimcs

their

movements.

42

The

Artist

Is

"Present"

43

outcomes

46

W

o

r

k

s

h

o

p

The workshop various sessions' posters

48

W

o

r

k

s

h

o

p

49

The workshop was developed in separate sessions with several iterations. The main goal was to bring the

participant

to

feel

disembodiment,

similar to the experience intended to be created in was

the

virtual

asked

to

communicate workshop,

the

reality

bring

only

their

through

tool. self

Each to

motions.

participant the

room

Throughout

participants-turning-dancers

and the

identified

their own movement pattern and examined their partner’s language, followed by an exchange drill which pushed them to detach from the familiarity of their body and how they usually move in it and commit to what their partner was performing. In this drill, the participants were enabled to expand their body awareness in a reciprocal way with the help of their partner.

50

51

52

"gained confidence / felt brave with strangers / learned new

it felt like a game / the b

different body language

in charge / who dictate all you need is patience

in front of me / different dir

open to receive the messages /i / sense the shared information contact / the visual appearance

communication / visual character / confident to extend the motion trusting your partner to follo

bodies and movements / bei

creative problem so

through

53

/ communicated ways of moving /

blurred lines in between the

es / Who is leading and who is

es the movements / sometimes / different pace / who is

rection to the stories /

improvise with my pair / always making eye influence the way of

ristics define the range range based on my partner / w you /coordinate the different

ing blocked by the differance /

olving / extension of my body

h others."

54

T

r

a

n

s

f

o

r

m

a

n

c

e

55

The VR application, developed with the RCA technicians, offered Lewis Walker, the collaborating dancer, to rediscover themselves in a digital form. The virtual encounter allowed a new self-perspective to be explored, which

then

got

challenged

and

deepened

with

the

application of deformation upon the reflecting avatar.

As

a

result,

a

live

improvesational

dance

performance was created in which Lewis were interacting with their digital reflection for the first time pushing themselves out of their comfort zone towards movement in a new way.

56

57

58

3D

Scan

Fixing scanned

the mesh

59

E n h a n c i n g the texture

Motion and

VR

Capture sync

66

"It is e

urge to

self-love of my body

felt like me m the face / my reminded me of

moving anomalist

uncontrolled emb

/ questioning my

patterns / mov a different

67

emotional / the

o push myself /

e / stand in front / felt nice / it

mainly because of reactive moves a friend /

tically /

bodiment

y visual

ving in way."

68

Future

Development

69

What I would like to see in the future is a better implementation of immersive technologies in which the full spectrum of participants, audience

and

performers

alike,

will

be sharing a space, physical or digital, similar

to

the

experience

of

watching

in

person a dancer performs. I would argue that the energy exchange that happens when sharing a physical site can be translated into an immersive virtual experience that achieves to replicates the delicate nuances of the shared experience and allows the users to experiment with new ways of communication.

In the future, I can see a new genre of dance emerges from

this

technological

adaptation.

It

does

not

have to be compared to dance as we know it, as it may offer a new scope of experiences that relates

to

moving

the

human

body.

70

“It’s a very provocative issue, because I was thinking I would agree with the people

who

say

that

it’s

not

dance,

but we have to be carful that we don’t get miss know

an

behind,

love it

the

with

the

become

so

little

domain

that

we

know,

underfunded, the

courage

body

live future;

we

don’t

what and

we what

performance, and

that

of

have

don’t step

we

share

this

which,

undervalued we

to

to

protective

is

that

that

human

about

don’t

as

or

opportunity

about

we share

left

and have

out.”

Bill T. Jones in an interview with Kent de Spain, New York, 1999

we

71

T

h

a

n

k

s

Lewis

Walker

Anna

Lann

Antoine

Hacheme

Thomas

Deacon

Mike

Faulkner

Halim

Lais Carolina Ramirez-Figueroa Hagar

Zeltser